The league got put in an uncomfortable position once the news leaked, that a significant number of owners told Bettman, that cancelling the season is not an option. Of course Fehr will try to squeeze every little bit out of the owners till the last possible moment. That's what he's hired for. How the hell can the league be surprised, that he re-installs the one big threat the union has available?

Actually, this made me wonder how hard of a deadline January 19th really is. It has been stressed to a point where it starts to sound like a cry of desperation more than anything else. Everyone and their mother knows about this deadline. Why do they emphasise it at this point again?

Both parties are well aware of the damage they cause if this season gets cancelled. It's not going to happen. So this is either the last push of posturing from both sides before an agreement next Thursday, or we might see Bettman eventually push the potential start of the season beyond January 19th, if only to gain a little more time to finalise things.

Gary Lawless, a spokesman for the owners' if ever there was one, hockey writer for the smallest newest market in the league, gets a bit of a scoop via an owner reiterating Bettman's resolve in cancelling the season if there's no deal by next Thursday. This after Napoleon's attitude and negotiating became a little more hard boiled when Fehr and his guys decided to not file the DOI on Wednesday night. Now the PA's doing another vote to re-institute their ability to file and the owners, via Gary Lawless, fire a shot across the bow. Why am I not surprised?

This is so typical of how this has gone- Bettman and his cronies willing to risk everything (markets, fans, sponsors, the very existence of the league itself) almost as a matter of principle and a leader of the PA who doesn't give a **** except to try and get the best deal he can for his players. Lawless went on to say that, according to his source, if the season is cancelled, "Bettman will then take off what is currently on the table" and "a 50-50 share will no longer be offered and the league will pursue a much revamped package". Also, "there will also be the messiness of lawsuits, a dissolved union and complete uncertainty for both sides to deal with. Some owners, said the governor .... would welcome such an opportunity if the current deal cannot be closed."

Now I'm no rocket scientist, but it would seem to me that if one is really really interested in having this league play this year, or in any year in its present form, one would not go around inflaming the other side with these continual threats, particularly given the sensitivity of the current "negotiations". I'm of the opinion there'll be no NHL hockey this season and quite possibly into 2013-14 quite frankly because neither side wants to resolve this. The apparent enmity between the sides is astounding, given that they're supposed to be "professionals".